Tap the brakes on Anna soccer ... for now
Anna High School’s soccer program is in its infancy, but it's had some
pretty good success as a club independent already. However, a
transition to full varsity play is still not definite for the Coyotes
and Lady Coyotes.<br>
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Yesterday’s soccer roundup in the <i>Herald Democrat</i> stated that
the Coyotes were looking to begin varsity play in 2011. That’s
certainly what boys’ coach Manny Avila and girls’ coach Kelly Pitzer
would love to see. However, the Anna ISD administration and school
board have not signed off on that yet. That's our fault for jumping to conclusions, and not the fault of the Anna coaches.<br>
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“We started club teams hoping to develop into a varsity team, but the
timeline’s not set in stone,” Avila said on Wednesday. “We’re still
discussing whether we do it next time we redistrict (later this spring)
or two years from now.”<br>
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Anna’s boys have had a successful first go of it with a win over Paris
North Lamar’s varsity and other wins over local JV squads. The Coyotes
acquitted themselves well in Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to Sherman, their first
loss of the year.<br>
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“(Sherman coach) Chico (Aleman) is my mentor, and I wanted to beat him last night,” Avila said.<br>
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Because they are still an independent and other teams start district
play next week, the Coyotes will end their inaugural season on Friday
at 6 p.m. at Denison.<br>
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Avila hopes the club team’s success will win over administrators and
school board members before the University Interscholatic League
deadline to declare intent to participate in soccer. The new district
soccer alignments will be announced later this spring.<br>
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“I think it would be fantastic if we had a team next year, as fantastic as we’ve done,” he said.<br>
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